Porkulus job fables in Michigan

posted at 11:36 am on November 16, 2009 by Ed Morrissey

The latest media reporting on the fraudulent nature of White House reporting on jobs “saved and created” comes from the blue state of Michigan. The Detroit Free Press reported yesterday that Michigan has received billions in federal funds, but has done nothing to stimulate hiring. And even those claimed to have been “saved or created” are greatly overstated:

Seven months into the massive federal stimulus program, the vast majority of government grants, contracts and loans in Michigan so far have created or retained virtually no jobs, a Free Press analysis shows.

The analysis also revealed that others who have been promised or have received stimulus money have overstated — in some cases greatly — the number of jobs created or protected. …

The Free Press examination of more than 1,800 government reports of those who have received or expect to receive stimulus money found the biggest impact was spurring or protecting public-sector or summer jobs — not private-sector jobs. Michigan has the nation’s worst unemployment rate.

The Free Press found very similar stories to those found by other newspapers in their states:

The Ingham County Health Department reported 97.49 jobs retained, but an official with the agency said without the funding, six jobs would have been lost. The Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan in Sault Ste. Marie, which provides services to member American Indian tribes, reported 99 jobs created or saved thanks to $46,000 in cost-of-living adjustments for Head Start employees. An official with the tribal council said she believes no jobs would have been lost without the government money. …

General Motors Co., for instance, reported 105 jobs saved or created for a government purchase of 5,000 vehicles but later said no jobs were saved or created. The City of Detroit reported 342 jobs it now says were projections — not jobs already created or retained. …

Detroit reported on a grant award — $10 million for work on 14 improvement projects in the city — saying 342 jobs had been saved or created, despite none of the money actually reaching the city yet. Last week, city officials told the Free Press those were only projections — not jobs saved or created.

Obama promised to stimulate the private sector with Porkulus, but the vast majority of the jobs being reported are those of government bureaucrats. Peter Morici, the University of Maryland economist, told the Free Press that 90% of the supposed stimulus would take place in the public sector, not the private sector — and the FP’s numbers support that conclusion. Even those jobs are questionable, however:

Of 22,513 jobs reported, 13,555 were tied to state money for education, doled out to local school districts. Without a huge economic turnaround or more federal money after the 2-year stimulus ends, many of those jobs could be threatened.

Another problem: More than 3,000 were summer-only jobs for youths. Those jobs do little to bring down Michigan’s highest-in-the-nation unemployment rate.

Basically, this is crack cocaine for bureaucracies. It provides a one-shot lifeline to state bureaucracies to avoid having the states downsize in the middle of an economic turndown, when states should be looking at ways to tighten their belts. These same jobs will be back at risk in the next budget year, because the underlying problem — a bloated and oversized government — will not be solved by a one-time federal subsidy. The states don’t have the revenue to keep all of their bureaucracies in place for the long term, which means each year Obama will have to have a Porkulus outlay or the “saved or created” jobs will disappear due to the eventual exercise of fiscal responsibility.

Add Michigan to the list of states whose media are discovering the fraud of Porkulus:

The states don’t have the revenue to keep all of their bureaucracies in place for the long term, which means each year Obama will have to have a Porkulus outlay or the “saved or created” jobs will disappear due to the eventual exercise of fiscal responsibility.

And since there won’t be a Porkulus II, these jobs will eventually have to be cut. Which means don’t look for unemployment to go down anytime soon.

The lies and deceptions are so obvious that even the most brainwashed lemmings realize this administration is incapable of telling the truth even when the truth would be easier. These buffoons are like a nightmare that never ends. Barry Soetero won……….

Of 22,513 jobs reported, 13,555 were tied to state money for education, doled out to local school districts. Without a huge economic turnaround or more federal money after the 2-year stimulus ends, many of those jobs could be threatened.

What needs to be understood that the Michigan Teacher’s union is synonymous with the Michigan Democrat Party. Jennie Granholm and the administration essentially have made this into a political spoils system for the labor union.

Basically, this is crack cocaine for bureaucracies. It provides a one-shot lifeline to state bureaucracies to avoid having the states downsize in the middle of an economic turndown, when states should be looking at ways to tighten their belts. These same jobs will be back at risk in the next budget year, because the underlying problem — a bloated and oversized government — will not be solved by a one-time federal subsidy. The states don’t have the revenue to keep all of their bureaucracies in place for the long term, which means each year Obama will have to have a Porkulus outlay or the “saved or created” jobs will disappear due to the eventual exercise of fiscal responsibility.

Granholm promised if re-elected she would blow the state away, and she has.

fourdeucer on November 16, 2009 at 11:43 AM

Whatever! She also designated some places as “cool cities” and those signs didn’t produce themselves.

In all seriousness, if there is any justice in the world, the Michigan Democrat party will be dead for generations after Granholm’s bad stewardship, the criminal activities of Conyers and Kilpatrick, the inbecility of Dingle, the socialism of the Levin mafia, and the utter incompetence of Stabenow.

So, now we have a full 28% of the nation reporting in totally fraudulent numbers to the Porkulus infusion. That is just disgusting. It makes me wonder what the total fraudulent amount of jobs will be compared to the actual.

This is stunning coming from the Detroit Free Press- they are extremely liberal, and if they start criticizing Obama, you know something is very wrong.

As for the whole stimulus jobs issue, from what I understand, many cities who received money are using it to make payroll every week- they now have no revenue because everyone is losing their house, and when you lose your house you stop paying taxes. They budgeted for this tax revenue and now everyone is in the red. From what I hear.

That is just disgusting. It makes me wonder what the total fraudulent amount of jobs will be compared to the actual.

Highlar on November 16, 2009 at 11:50 AM

Wonder what? This was all a sham and those of us who opposed it from the beginning never had any misconception that this would help save or create jobs. This was nothing more than the filthy liar in the White House and his corrupt party rewarding their special interests including ACORN, labor unions, and a slew of state and local Democrats.

All local pork is like this. Usually your local congressman or senator is the pusher. Under the uber-stimulus bill and ObamaCare, the Administration is the pusher. Even before the Age of Obama, all State Medicaid agencies and virtually all schools (public and higher ed), highway departments, etc. are addicted on OPM from the central government. Will Americans ever tolerate the withdrawal pains that come with beating the addiction?

If this is payback for support of President Chutes&Ladders, then what is sending the GITMO TERRORISTS to Illinois? Strange way to reward your home state.

What I do not get is there are so many stories out there like this one, and Obama’s favorable ratings are still at 50%. Why? The dude lies every nanosecond and the jobless rate is really around 17.6% when you factor in all the variables. How in the world can The Manchild possibly be thought of as being the Savior of anything?

The Free Press has to start reporting this stuff. There is nothinng left. Nothing.
No jobs, vacant homes. The state is a shell of what it once was. The newspapers can not go any further down, they have got to start looking up.

We may be witnesses to the Law of Unintended Consequences, and not even know it. Porkulus was supposed to create jobs. It looks like it may actually be creating real investigative journalist jobs in the MSM. May their ranks continue to grow.

isn’t lying about the uses/effect of our tax dollars in some way criminal?

marklmail on November 16, 2009 at 12:34 PM

I’m sure when push comes to shove, the Feds will attempt to play the “plausible deniability” card: “What fudged figures? It wasn’t US that forged the numbers…we just reported what was reported back TO us. You need to blame the state governors for these false figures. Just forget that we created the documents that they had to use FOR those calculations.”

In all seriousness, if there is any justice in the world, the Michigan Democrat party will be dead for generations after Granholm’s bad stewardship, the criminal activities of Conyers and Kilpatrick, the inbecility of Dingle, the socialism of the Levin mafia, and the utter incompetence of Stabenow.

highhopes on November 16, 2009 at 11:49 AM

All of them from the Lower Peninsula. They are afraid to come to the Upper Peninsula and confront all these stump-jumpers with deer rifles. ;-)

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Michigan is a real economic “basket case”. Look at the many closed factories–jobs that will never return. And Chrysler and GM are outsourcing more of their work overseas–and buying their vehicles from Fiat!
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And the people keep electing DemocRATS there. How bad does unemployment have to get before things improve? Maybe Michigan will really become the first Muslim state in the new U.S.S.A.–people in Pakistan keep wanting the Taliban to take over and “help them out”!
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Had enough yet?
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John Bibb
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I wonder why Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (D-part time) let International Paper slip out of Franklin, VA. It seems to me he was so unaware and so politically partisan that he got caught by surprise that IP had decided to close up a profitable shop in a rural county to consolidate operations outside the state. This operation has been in Franklin for more than five generations.
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Kaine was famous recently for criticizing Gov.-Elect McDonnell for rejecting Federal stimulus money and it’s iron-clad requirements for future state-funded unemployment benefits.

They can split Michigan in two: Make Detroit a whole state by itself, then the rest of Michigan. Then Detroit can waste away on it’s own and hopefully not take the rest of a good state with it. Plus, I guarantee Michigan would be a red state if not for Detroit. In fact we might want to include Flint in that separate state along with Detroit. The ray of hope: I don’t anticipate a democratic governor after next year’s elections.

Add Michigan to the TOP of the list of states that are going to have to learn to cook meals with dirt and air because of their blind faith in liberals, unions, and foolishly foolish leaders. Poor Michigan.

I live in Michigan. My friend’s girlfriend had one of those summer-only jobs. Realizing that it was a “stimulus” job, I asked her a whole slew of questions about it. Basically, she said that she and her colleagues barely ever worked, but when they did, they painted fire hydrants. They may have done something else, but the fire hydrants was the only thing I remember. At $8.50+ an hour. Yep.

Duh…I just now figured out your screen name. Good one, ya. I was born way under the bridge and recall a time when Ohio actually tried to claim that the UP was legally a part of their state. I think you’re better off on your own…even if you don’t secede…you don’t need no stinkin’ Union-stained mitten. Stay strong!

who didn’t see this one coming….next some crazy post will say that California fudged stimulus job numbers….

search4truth on November 16, 2009 at 11:40 AM

…and that is why I would like to officially announce that the stimulus money has enabled California to save exactly 121 jobs which, coincidentally, happens to be exact number of jobs represented by the Governor, State Assembly and State Senate.